Presa Demand Grows for All Wrong Reasons

Dogs wanted for killing, fighting

The media frenzy surrounding the fatal mauling of a San Francisco woman by a Presa Canario dog could have been bad news for the future of the obscure canine breed.But breeders say the notoriety has caused just the opposite: more calls from people looking for killer canines.

“They want a pit bull on steroids,” said Mac Harris, a New York breeder. “And these dogs can be just that if they’re raised the wrong way.”

After the killing of Diane Whipple in her Pacific Heights apartment building made national headlines, Presa Canario breeders say, calls and e- mails from prospective buyers have tripled or quadrupled.

Some of those inquiries have been disconcerting: A lawyer wanted protection from his clients, a California kennel owner wanted the “ultimate aggressive dog,” and one man even asked for the very animal that killed Whipple.

And, with the media frenzy in the aftermath of the killing, the Presa Canario — a breed that some law enforcement officials have nervously eyed as the next big thing in the seedy world of dog fighting — may have gotten the push it needed to send sales skyrocketing.

“This could be the next dog of choice among criminals,” said Det. Bob Beals,

a dog-fighting expert with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Breeders voiced the same fears.

“The exact kind of person who should not have a Presa Canario are now the ones asking about it,” said Irina Vyatkin, co-owner of Red Star Kennel in Hudson, Wis. “We have people who want weapons — not dogs.”

“We receive calls every day from people who are interested in fighting dogs, ” said Vyatkin, who raised the grandmother of the dog that killed Whipple. “One just said: ‘I want a dog that kills.’ “

Tracy Hennings, president of the Presa Canario Club of America, said her Cleveland area kennel used to receive three to five calls a week. Now she logs that many every day. Hennings also received 25 e-mail inquiries last weekend: “I would usually only get one or two in that time,” she said.

MIGHT TO FIGHT

The Presa Canario is valued as a guard dog that can be counted on to protect your home and family, breeders say. But much of the recent interest has come from people who want to know about its fighting potential.

Many queries seem innocuous. But others “ask: ‘Are they any good at fighting? Are they game? You think one of your dogs can take a pit bull?’ These people make me sick,” Hennings said.

The Presa Canario was originally bred for fighting, guarding and some herding in Spain’s Canary Islands. The breed was near extinction by the 1950s and was brought back when it was mixed with mastiffs and others. Introduced in the United States in 1990, there are now more than 1,000, including at least eight that were owned by two Pelican Bay prison inmates. Two of those dogs, including the killer Bane, ended up in Pacific Heights a few months ago at the home of one of the inmates’ attorneys.

So far Presa Canarios are on the fringe of the illegal sport of dog fighting, according to police, experts and Web sites for its many fans.

But there is concern among police that Presa Canarios will be bred with pit bulls and possibly Rottweilers to create a big, mean fighting dog. Pit bulls rarely weigh more than 60 pounds, but Presa Canarios often tip the scales at twice that amount.

“There have been several attempts to create the ultimate canine fighting machine, but it always comes back to the pit bull,” Beals said. “I don’t think these (Presa Canarios) will ever replace the pit bull. But anytime word gets out about a new powerful killer dog, everyone wants to get some and start breeding them.”

DOGS OF CHOICE

For now, most experts agree that American pit bull terriers will remain the top dog when it comes to sport fighting.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s going to be a pit bull (used for dog fighting), even at the street level,” said Det. Chris Sanford of the Galt Police Department, who helped bust one of the West Coast’s largest dog- fighting rings in 1999. “For gangs, the pit bull has that vicious image they want. And for professionals, the pit bull just has the best characteristics.”

The editor of “American Game Dog Times,” a Virginia-based monthly that follows the sport, said “dogmen” — serious dog fighters — wouldn’t be interested in the Presa Canario.

Dog fighting has grown in popularity in this country and around the world, police and the Humane Society said. It ranges from serious matches where thousands of dollars are wagered on fights in wooden rings to impromptu backyard battles for $20 bets.

In the more formal events, dogmen may bring their animals from hundreds of miles away for championship fights. Winners go on to become breeding stock. Losing dogs that survive the fight are often killed later by their owners.

But most dog fights are more casual affairs in which one guy says his pit bull is tougher than another guy’s dog. They then meet somewhere — from an urban housing project to a cow pasture — and settle the issue.

FEARING A LIFE OF CRIME

Authorities expect that minor league dog fighters and drug dealers will use Presa Canarios mixed with Rottweilers or pit bulls to fight or guard drug labs and pot farms.

For now, Presa Canario breeders, who tout their canines as lovable and loyal, are rattled by the creepy callers.

A lawyer phoned Harris in New York City on Friday in search of a vicious guard dog. Former clients wanted a piece of him, he said.

A Southern California kennel owner called this week, looking for the ”ultimate aggressive dog.”

“He said if it wasn’t aggressive enough when he got it, he’d shoot it,” Harris said.

And Paul Petrowich, who helps run WereWolf Kennel in Ontario, Canada, said he got one particularly eerie call last week. A man was seeking Bane, the dog responsible for mauling Whipple.

“He just said, ‘I want to get a hold of that dog that killed the woman.’ I explained that we had nothing to do with that, but he wasn’t listening. I just hung up.”

Good lord. Breeders of large working breeds are going to need to start doing background checks before selling pups. Like it was a firearm. I hate the thought of people twisting a dogs desire to work for and please you.

All this panic around one death by that certain breed its silly. whats stopping a labrador from mauling a helpless women to death. its because of the stupid media and idiots that get scared over every little thing why so many breeds are illegal in my city(london), it takes alot of time and training to turn a dog vicous there not born like that so making dogs illegal is pointless, its just another excuse to cage more human beings. Besides ive seen labradors that are more agressive than som pitbulls so why not make labradors illegal?

first u would have to be the biggest retard in the world to purposely get a dog that was aggressive
second the pitbull will sadly never be replaced as the top fighter around as much as people think bigger dogs r badder thats simply not the case as the smaller dogs r more athletic and have less weight behind their heads making it easier to keep a hold on the other dog
and finally the biggest retard of them all the guy that asked for the killer dog should have realized that a dog thats taken human life would have most likely been put down

As Craig points out so well, it’s foolish with all this panic. The media is causing all this disturbance over one single death by a specific breed. Ofc it’s sad when a dog kills an innocent person but to say that that breed is the problem is surely just as sad.
All dogs can be vicious, it’s all a matter fo upbringing. Granted some dogs are born flawed like humans are but it’s not the breed that’s to blame for it.
Here (Denmark) ppl look at me as if I own a fighting-/aggressive dog but truth be told my dog (English Bull-Terrier) is just a big kid, happy to play all day, greet pl and other dogs and just fool around. I would say that it can also be a vicious dog but ut’s a matter of upbringing again.

To Alex:
If you’re really serious about wanting to give your dog steroids, you need to see a schrink and let your dog find a better home.

To Alex,
Steroids are very bad for people and for animals as well. I also want my dog to be big. What I do is that three times a week I feed him with meat instead of his regular dog food, and I go jogging with him. Please don’t put your dog on a treadmill for hrs or put heavy chain on him/her.
Don’t expect your dog to look that the one in the picture, but he/she will get bigger and look healthy and happier.

Dear High Drive Dog Owners-
check out these new dog/human powered rigs ! at http://WWW.DOGPOWEREDSCOOTER.COM
unlimited dog exercise under excellent dog control. and a whole new sport !
this is the first time anyone has placed a pulling animal BEHIND a steering wheel- that makes it so easy- that makes it big news !
any chance of a link?
thanks
mark

I like your content on your site, but it appears as though your RSS feed is offline? Maybe it has something to do with your host. I just thought from webmaster to webmaster I would warn you of this problem so you don’t miss out on potential subscribers! If it still works for you have a friend try it, could be keeping out external connections.

i have to agree with craig dogs r not born that way “aggressive”. it takes a lot of training to make an attack dog.I have a two year old 160 lb fawn presa canario named gully he is very hard headed but is the sweatest most loyal friend i could ever ask for.Do not come over if your dogs in heat unless you like being rape by basicly a pit bull on roids but thats just how presa turn out(looking like a pit on roids) i have had the chance of knowing 3 presa canarios all 3 not very cat friendly but loyalest dog i have ever known p.s. mark your friend should be shot i the dick for giving his puppies/any dog roids! mark schuette i like your dog bike website thing i am always looking for ways to get gully out of the house and ran down to being sleepy witch takes alot pf running

To Alex/Mark.
You are a couple of superb ignorant dicks.
“My buddy breeds pits and he gives them the roids.”
Holy, you are one special needs little queerbate, aren’t you? That crap is AWFUL for people, even worse for animals. Not to mention, does wretched things to the mind and body. Men that do steroids tend to have major rage issues, and develop tendancies to just “snap” over the smallest things. Pitbulls already have a tendancy to do the same, “snap” suddenly out of the blue. I’m sure steroids will greatly help that issue…iiiidiots. I hope those roided up pups rip your faces off!
Thanks!

There nout wrong with pitbulls they r lovin loyal dogs that just wanna please you. Its not there fault all these FAG ENDS out there fight them n give them a bad name!!!! A jack russel is more likely to bite then a pitbull!!

N spencer BTW pitbull dnt have the tendancy to just snap! take it ur js one of those ignorent tools that doesnt no anything about the breed. i have a 2year old pit n she is the softest dog eva and would neva js snap out ov the blue. its not in the breed its wot they get told to do!!!